Part 4: First dance and a hospital visit
"Aren't you the one that asked me out to this dance? Make the first move." This felt like both an insult and an invite to Roy. "Very well then." Roy raised both of fists and charged at the young man. Now, this was a bad idea, for he had no idea what type of supernatural powers this young man had. He didn’t move a muscle and stared Roy down as he darted towards him. “!?” Suddenly, Roy started to slow down. His body began to feel a lot heavier, as if he were being shoved down onto the floor by a giant hand. His body slammed down and he was unable to move. Roy tried lifting himself off of the floor, but his efforts were in vain. "What the...?" He laid there, a mere 3 feet away from his target's feet. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't move. "Don't bother; right now it's impossible for you to move." "...W-what?" "Gravity multiplied just now. I'm surprised you didn't just turn into a red stain on the floor." He didn’t look at Roy at all when he spoke. ("Gravity? What?”) Roy tried in a futile effort again to lift his arm, but it wouldn't budge. "I told you not to bother. You can't move in this state." "...Y-you fuckin...g coward..!" "Hoooh... Is that what you should be saying?" Roy felt feeling come back into his body, so he shot up and hopped back. He began to ponder about what his power might be. From what the boy had spoken, it was obvious to tell that his power had to do with gravity manipulation. He was only given a few seconds to think before he felt another pull. This time, however, he was not forced downward. He felt a force pulling him backwards, but in front of him was a fist coming at an incredible speed. The fist smashed into his face, darting him into the wall of a nearby building. Roy clutched his face. Blood was sprinkling out of his nose. Before he could get up, the boy was standing above him. Roy’s body began to float off of the floor. “...?” His body was fixed forward to face him. He stared Roy in the eyes for maybe 10 seconds. Then he let out a sigh. Roy felt another tug at his back, but this time, the fist slammed into his stomach. Roy felt a crack in his stomach and felt like vomiting. Roy’s body hit the floor once more. “...Fucking pathetic...” Roy mustered up his strength and hopped a few meters to the side. The boy did not go after him. He stood still, clutching his stomach, thinking about what he had just experienced. ("It looks like he doesn’t have some type of range to it. That or I was still in it. Wait, but that means I could be in it right now! Shit, how does this fucking work?”) Roy was correct in saying his gravity manipulation had no determined range. The person before him had the power to manipulate gravity at will, and he can alter the gravitation pull of anything or apply gravitational force to those with little or none of it. He had been multiplying the gravity of the buildings behind Roy to speed up and increase the strength of his punches. (“Maybe he CAN only do it from a certain distance; I'll try a ranged attack.") Roy conjured the same laser gun he showed the old, bald man in the stadium. He aimed it at the boy and pulled the trigger. The laser shot toward him, but it slowed down as it got nearer to him. The boy stepped to the side and the laser shot into the building behind him. "!?" "Did you expect that to work or something?" ("Tch. How the fuck do I get by this shit?! He can just use gravity to divert projectiles, and hitting him will have no effect. What do I do now?") "I'm getting bored. Is that seriously the only power you have?" Roy began to get angry. He foolishly dashed forward toward him. "Well, looks like you weren't worth much anyway." Roy's body shot into the air like a rocket. "H...huh?" For some reason he was floating high above the city, unable to move his body. He had been running towards the boy, but now he was staring into the starry sky of Forchen Island. Below him, thousands of people were asleep, but here he was, roaming in the middle of the night fighting. "What the f-" He went speeding towards the street at an alarmingly dangerous rate. His body hit the ground with a loud thud, and with that he lost consciousness. There were nasty gashes on his forehead, a few of his ribs were broken into pieces, his Radius snapped in two, and his lungs were just about ready to give out. He w "Huh. The little shit just won't die, huh?" The boy walked over to Roy’s inanimate body and leaned his head over him. With the most wickedly iniquitous smile on his face, he rammed his heel into Roy’s spine. The pain shocked Roy back to consciousness. "Gyyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!" Roy's blood-curdling screams could be heard all around the city. "Kehahahaha! What's the matter, asshole? This isn't the type of fight you were looking for?" Roy couldn't hear what he was saying. The repeated stomping on his back had dulled his hearing, and he was only concerned about getting out of this situation however he could. After Roy had been screaming for a good deal of a minute, the boy lifted his foot from Roy’s back and got on one knee near Roy’s head. "Look at how pitiful you look. Just want to die now, don't you?" Roy clenched his teeth and tried to get up, but his body would not let him move an inch. "You know, I haven’t killed anyone before. You should feel special; you’re going to be my first time." "..." It was over. Not because Roy died. He didn't. Down the street, sirens were wailing and cars were flying down the street. "Shit. Looks like someone called the police. See you later, idiot." The boy took off into the air. A few seconds later, two ambulances and a black armored truck were surrounding Roy's body on the floor. "Damn, kid! What a night you must have had." "Looks like the work of Mellow again." "You know, we can't blame every injured boy we see on the streets on him." "Look at his body. Who else could have done this?" "Whatever, let's get this kid to the hospital, he's leaking like a faucet." Roy was hauled into the back of one of the ambulances. He lost consciousness again on the way to the hospital. Back in house number 43, Gianna paced back and forth in the kitchen. "Where is he? It's almost 11:00! He said he'd be back before dark!" "Stop stressing yourself out over that jackass. He probably got himself killed or something." "That's not funny! He could have seriously gotten himself hurt!" At that moment, the phone began ringing. The caller ID said "Forchen City Hospital". Gianna was apprehensive, but she decided to answer. "H-hello?" "Good night. Is this Beetle Block house number 43?" "Yes, what's wrong?" "Well, we have your room mate, Roy Kailola, here. It seems he got in a little skirmish and ended up injured." "What...?" "Yeah, he got injuries to his lungs, ribs, and spine, a few gashes here and there, and a few more broken bones. He’s pretty fucked up. He most likely would have died if we didn’t come to scrape him off of the floor." "W-will he be alright!?" "Don't worry; you can trust the doctors here. Just get yourself some rest, everything will be alright. We just wanted to call to let you know he's safe now. Make sure not to come out late at night so things like this won't happen to you, alright?" She hung up the phone and sat down in a chair at the table. "So, who was it? What happened?" "Roy's in the hospital. He got in a fight and got injured..." "Hah! His first night here and he's already out to get himself killed. Charming." "Can't you express a little more concern!? Your room mate just got injured!" "Oh, please. He was probably being an asshole and got beat up for it. Serves him right." Gianna rose from her chair. She walked past Lucy, headed towards the steps, and walked up the stairs towards her bedroom in a slump. Lucy did not care much for the boy, but Gianna was greatly unsettled that her new roommate was staying in a hospital right now. Morning came and Roy noticed that he was lying in a hospital bed. He could not clearly remember everything that happened the night before, but he knew he had gotten beaten half dead by someone with black, stringy hair and gray eyes. "Shit! What the hell was up with me last night?" Roy pounded his fist on the bed in frustration. He had never fought someone like that ever before. Though, he should have expected it since he was now in a place where people with powers like that are everywhere. "It’s nice to see that you’re up and running." Roy looked towards the door and saw a nurse standing there. She had a slim, curvy figure that was much appealing to the eyes, but her face was nothing to call home to mother about. "You injured your spine and lungs pretty bad. You should be grateful for my excellent healing powers." "...Can I leave now?" "In a hurry are we~?" "Shut up. I don't have time to waste in here; today's my first day at school here." "Don't worry about that. We already have a ride outside waiting for you. Your uniform is on the desk next to you. When you’re dressed, come downstairs for breakfast and we'll take you to school." "..." She left the room. Roy and took up the pile of clothes on the desk on the left side of the bed. It was a regular white button-up and a pair of khaki slacks with a cardigan. The shirt and cardigan had the letters “BBHS” stitched onto them. He removed the hospital gown, standing in nothing but his underwear then put the slacks on. While brushing his teeth, he couldn't help but to wonder what he could have done differently to avoid being put in this hospital. ("Dammit! I shouldn’t have just ran to him like some type of idiot. What the hell was I thinking?") He went downstairs into the open area cafeteria and declined breakfast when it was offered to him. "Just take me to school." In the rear-view mirror of the car, he could see that he had a gauze on the right side of his face and a bandage wrapped around his head. "...‘ Excellent healing powers’ my ass." "Is there a problem, sir?" "None at all. Just drive." They were on the way to one of the schools on Forchen Island. In each Block, there are 3 schools: a middle school, high school, and a college. There were no elementary schools in any blocks but Ant and Roach because no children were allowed in Beetle, Tarantula, and Special Block. Roy was headed to the Beetle Block High School that sat only a few blocks away from the hospital. Once they were at the school, Roy hopped out of the car. "Thanks for the ride." was all he said and closed the door. He turned towards the school. It was pretty big, and it had multiple flags from various nations swinging over it. The flags represented the different nations of people that attended the school. He could see everyone else entering the building; however, he was looking for someone. ("Oh, there she is.") Gianna was standing next to Lucy, both in their uniforms. "Yo." "Ah, Roy! Are you okay!? The hospital called last night." "I'm fine," He turned to Lucy. "Good Morning, sweetheart." "Don't say anything to me." "So, why are you here, Gianna? I figured you would go to the middle school since you look so young." "Well, I'm still in 8th; I just came here to make sure you were safe." "You know, there's no need to worry about me. I'm strong enough to hold my own." "That bandage on your face says otherwise." She said as she puffed out her cheeks. "hehe..." "I have no time to listen to you two flirt around. I'm going to school." Lucy interrupted. "Well, I should be off as well. Later, Gianna." "Bye. Be safe!" Roy waved off. He caught up to Lucy who started speed-walking as soon as she sensed he was close behind her. "Why can't you be nice like her?" "Shut it. I know how these stories go. I'm not going to become one of your concubines." "...What?" "Nothing, you idiot. Don't talk to me in school either." "As you wish, young lady. What is your name, anyway?" Though they were supposed to be living together, Roy did not even know her name. They had not formally greeted each other, and Lucy only heard his name the night before when the hospital called. "You'd like to know, now wouldn't you?" She dipped off into a crowd and was out of Roy's sights. Roy flapped his arms down and pouted. "Oh, come on..."